Tag Archives: novel

Today I’ve got a fun, beautiful, fantastic post that I’ve been looking forward to sharing with you — the new cover for WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE, the third book in my Noon Onyx series. As with FIERY EDGE OF STEEL, Jason Chan was the cover artist. Below are my thoughts on the cover, the book blurb, pre-order and Goodreads links, and a chance to win some neat prizes: signed copies of DARK LIGHT OF DAY and FIERY EDGE OF STEEL (US only) and a $25 eGift Certificate to the book store of your choice (international). Please help me to share the new cover by tweeting, posting, etc.!

My Thoughts

I’ve loved each of my covers for different reasons. DARK LIGHT OF DAY was my first cover so I’m rather sentimental about it. I’ll always love it because it was my first and because cover artist David Palumbo incorporated a lot of design elements that I appreciated: the blackened vine motif on the gate, St. Luck’s in the background, the books that Noon held, the fireball raised high in her hand, and that defiant, though somewhat hesitant, face. It fit the story and the character for that book perfectly.

I loved FIERY EDGE OF STEEL’s cover because it was visually striking. Noon looked tougher and, instead of carrying books and a vague, unshaped fireball, she was now griping a knife — a fiery filleting knife that she’d shaped out of waning magic. The backdrop was the New Babylon docks — appropriate since that story was, for the most part, a river adventure.

But — wow! — I think the cover for WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE is the best yet. It’s stunning.

When my editor sent me the cover art and I opened it up for the first time, I was thrilled. It’s beautiful, and like my first two covers, it incorporates many of the design elements that we discussed early on. Noon’s clothing is different than it was on the first two covers. Instead of a bustier and cloak, she’s bundled up in a fur-lined hood and gloves for her trip into the dark parts of southern Halja. She’s graduated from a knife to a sword. It’s symbolic of how far she’s come as a character. (Whether or not the sword on the cover is actually the famed “White Heart of Justice” that Noon seeks in the book, I leave to readers to determine). And a fiery war bird circles her, another nod to her growing magic skills and a hint to readers that they will see magic used in new and different ways in book #3.

But the two things I love the most about this cover are its attention-grabbing, bright, bracing colors and Noon’s expression. Though she is looking down, she looks contemplative and strong, almost meditative. Appropriate for a character whose decisions have become more weighty with each book. Here’s the blurb…

WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE

A Noon Onyx Novel

Since Lucifer claimed victory at Armageddon, demons, angels, and humans have coexisted in uneasy harmony. Those with waning magic are trained to maintain peace and order. But hostilities are never far from erupting…

After years of denying her abilities, Noon Onyx, the first woman in history to wield waning magic, has embraced her power. She’s won the right to compete in the prestigious Laurel Crown Race—an event that will not only earn her the respect of her peers but also, if she wins, the right to control her future.

However, Noon’s task is nearly impossible: retrieve the White Heart of Justice, a mythical sword that disappeared hundreds of years ago. The sword is rumored to be hidden in a dangerous region of Halja that she is unlikely to return from. But Noon’s life isn’t the only thing hanging in the balance. The sword holds an awesome power that, in the wrong hands, could reboot the apocalypse—and Noon is the only one who can prevent Armageddon from starting again…

Please Pre-Order and Add to Your Goodreads Shelf

Who else is participating

in the cover reveal?

Below are the other bloggers that are participating in the cover reveal. THANK YOU to each and every one of them! I am very grateful that they wanted to help share the new cover and spread the word about WHITE HEART OF JUSTICE. Please stop by to check out their sites, subscribe and/or follow them, and for more chances to win my cover reveal prizes. A big thank you to Roxanne Rhoads at Bewitching Book Tours, who helped to organize the cover reveal.

Prizes!

To celebrate the new cover, I am giving away a signed set of DARK LIGHT OF DAY and FIERY EDGE OF STEEL (US only) and a $25 eGift Certificate to a book store of winner’s choice (international). To enter to win, click here.

So what do you think? Do you love the new cover as much as I do? Thank you for helping me share it!

Noon Onyx is Competing in Dark Faerie Tales Supernatural Smackdown!

This weekend, Noon is competing in Dark Faerie Tales Supernatural Smackdown. What’s a Supernatural Smackdown, you ask? It’s a really fun online cage match among a bunch of tough-as-nails paranormal characters. It was fun for me as a writer because this is the first post I’ve written from Noon’s perspective. And it’s tons of fun for readers because all of the posts have been great. If you are looking for a quick entertainment fix, stop by! There are prizes (I’m giving away a signed copy of Dark Light of Day and Fiery Edge of Steel) and other participating authors are offering terrific prizes as well.

While you’re there, you can VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER. Being a pacifist at heart, Noon’s a little disadvantaged in this competition (she could use some online love to survive!). But, honestly, just check it out and vote for whoever — because all of the posts have been witty and well worth reading.

ARC and eGC Winners!

Thank you very much to everyone who participated in the exclusive excerpt tour for Fiery Edge of Steel. I really appreciated all of the comments, tweets, status updates, etc. It helps a lot to have readers spreading the word about new releases online. Bewitching Book Tours sent me the list of winners and prizes have either already been delivered or are on their way. Here are the winners:

Cloud Atlas

I watched Cloud Atlas last night. Has anyone else seen it? What did you think of it? For the most part, I liked it. I’m usually able to follow complicated plots, but I have to admit that I was baffled and confused at times by the myriad story lines (the movie follows six separate stories set in 1849 South Pacific, 1936 England/Scotland, 1973 San Francisco, 2012 United Kingdom, 2144 Neo Seoul, and 2321 “The Big Island”). Since I’d be hard pressed (in the time I have to write this post) to come up with a decent description for this movie, I’m going to just quote IMDb, which says that Cloud Atlas is “an exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.”

I definitely have to see this movie again. I’m sure I missed a lot in the first viewing because this film is so sprawling (not necessarily a bad thing). It’s feels all over the place in the beginning — and it is — in time, space, and plot. But one of the things that was interesting (although more confusing, because I was so distracted by the actors’ many different visual transformations) is that the same actors play different characters in each story line. Since this movie was based on a book (Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell) I found myself wondering why the filmmakers chose to make the film version of the story that way. I can’t imagine the choice was made for budgetary reasons. But I’m not sure I understand the creative choice. Were the filmmakers trying to underscore the book’s interconnectivity theme? I think there is some controversy surrounding the film and this choice, but I’ll have to wait until I have more time to look into it. Maybe some of you movie buffs can fill me in. The film reminded me of The Fountain and Tree of Life (although I admit, I was so tired during Tree of Life that I don’t even remember half of it). And there’s also a little bit of a Matrix vibe to the Neo Seoul 2144 storyline, which makes sense because the Wachowskis directed both.

Have you seen Cloud Atlas? What are your thoughts? Hope everyone’s having a great weekend!

The Fiery Edge of Steel exclusive excerpt tour is wrapping up. Today and tomorrow are the last days to enter to win a signed ARC and a $25 eGift Certificate to the bookstore of your choice. Check out today’s excerpt at Rabid Reads. And see below for more Fiery Edge of Steel inspirations. Happy Friday!

BONFIRES = INSPIRATION FOR… BONFIRES :-D

I’ve always loved bonfires. I still remember spending one Christmas Eve with my dad, step-mom, and brother watching the bonfires burn along the Mississippi River. I also remember my high school used to let students build and burn a big bonfire for homecoming. And, growing up in western Pennsylvania and now living in rural Maryland, there have been no shortage of friends to hang out with who also love to safely burn things. Despite the picture above looking very “Lord of the Light-ish” I took it last summer at a local backyard bonfire. I took it with my cell phone so it’s a little grainy, but the timing couldn’t have been better. I was walking out to my car and I turned around and saw the moon and the guy standing in front of the fire (yes, he’s in front of the fire, not in it :-)). I couldn’t help thinking that scenes like this have likely happened throughout human history with very little change. I edited out the farm house, which really gives the picture a timeless look.

Those of you who have read Dark Light of Dayknow that bonfires play a minor role in the story. They do in Fiery Edge of Steeltoo. And I even managed to work in my idea that scenes like this have been repeated with each passing generation for countless years. (Chapter 21 for anyone who’s curious). Unless something drastic changes during edits, there will also be a bonfire in Act I of book #3. Why? To me, they are a symbol of continuity and community, friendship and warmth.

The third Fiery Edge of Steel, Chapter 1 excerpt is at the speculative fiction blog, Preternatura (Suzanne Johnson’s blog). Find out which demon they’re bringing to Timothy’s Square for the Carne Vale and enter to win one of six signed ARCs of Fiery Edge of Steel (US) and a $25 eGift Certificate to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, winner’s choice (international). And see below for some more “behind the scenes” type stuff. Happy Wednesday!

I name all my chapters and then take the names out during edits. Some of my chapter names could probably be left in — the ones that are evocative because they play off some thematic element in the chapter. But many of them are just sign posts for me, the drafter. They help me to keep track of what the chapter’s supposed to be about. When I was drafting Fiery Edge of Steel, I had this idea to put little snippets of stuff at the beginning of each chapter. Things that would provide information to the reader, but not necessarily as part of the narrative. I decided against it. For one thing, the books have enough information for the reader to digest. But for those of you that like extras, here’s the one I drafted for the beginning of Chapter 20:

Lead investigators shall have the following duties:

1. To the Demon Council: Lead investigators shall be loyal, faithful, and respectful to the Council, and shall uphold its authority at all times;

2. To the Investigative Team: To the extent possible based on field situations, lead investigators shall keep members of their investigative team reasonably safe;

3. To the Outpost Lord: Lead investigators shall not unnecessarily offend an Outpost Lord who is under investigation. During the investigation, investigators shall cause as little disturbance as possible in outpost operations and shall take care not to diminish the Outpost Lord’s adoration; and

4. To Justica: Lead investigators shall conduct a thorough investigation, shall render an impartial and fair judgment, and then mete out punishment, including execution, as necessary.

Rule 2290.13(g) of the Maegester’s Rules of Engagement (Demon Complaints; Investigation of Outpost Lord; Duties of Lead Investigator)

Fiery Edge of Steel Chapter One, Part Two is up at Urban Girl Reader! Click here for the 2nd excerpt and more chances to win signed ARCs (US) and a $25 eGC (international). Hope everyone’s day has been great! Mine has been wet and rainy.

MAGIC 8 BALL = INSPIRATION FOR ALBA’S BLACK ONIONS

Here’s a deleted snippet from Fiery Edge of Steel, Chapter 2. It’s the menu at Alba’s (a.k.a. “the Black Onion”), a tiny cafe on the corner of River Road and Widow’s Walk where Noon and her study mates go when they want to get off campus.

Fiery Edge of Steel is releasing at the end of this month — May 28th! To help spread the word about its release, I’m doing a six stop exclusive excerpt tour through Bewitching Book Tours. From today through May 11th, one part of Chapter 1 will be posted at each of the stops below. I’m giving away six signed ARCs (US only) and one $25.00 eGift Certificate to the bookstore of the winner’s choice (international) during this “teaser” tour. I’m ALSO giving away two more signed ARCs of Fiery Edge of Steel and two signed copies of Dark Light of Day from my site (US only). All you have to do to enter to win one of those is e-mail your US address to [archer at jillarcher dot com] by midnight EDT May 13th. Subject line should be the title of the book you are interested in. (You can say “both” :-D).

Fiery Edge of Steel

Exclusive Excerpt Tour

In writing Fiery Edge of Steel, I was inspired by a number of things, among them an old French imposter case, two children’s songs, and a fairy tale. I wanted to explore the themes of love, betrayal, knowledge, death, and duty. To set up those themes I could think of no better way to open the book than to recreate a Haljan version of the 16th century execution of Arnaud du Tilh, the man who impersonated the French peasant Martin Guerre. That recreation forms the basis for Chapter 1.

Great First Reviews!

I was thrilled and excited to see that the first reviews for Fiery Edge of Steel were positive. In fact, I love what was said about the book and the series. I’m very grateful for any interest and thankful to everyone who takes the time to read and review.

“Archer delves deeper into the enticing and magical world of Dark Light of Day in this original and clever urban fantasy… Excitement and action leap from the pages as Archer’s skill with description pulls readers fully into her magical world.” — Publishers Weekly

“The second Noon Onyx story is an astounding adventure tale. Archer’s unique world, where Lucifer’s army triumphed at Armageddon, is filled with adherence to strict laws that keep an uneasy peace between races. This is proving to be a really fresh and fascinating series!” — RT Book Reviews

Noon Onyx is participating in a

Supernatural Smackdown

Does that sound hilarious and fun or what?!? I couldn’t resist saying I’d participate even though Noon’s character isn’t as kick a$$ as the characters she’ll be competing against. If you’re interested in seeing how a Supernatural Smackdown works, stop by Dark Faerie Tales (I’ll be taking notes along with you because this is the first one I’ve ever done!). And, if you want to vote for the underdog, come check out my post there on May 16th! (Yes, I’ll be sending out reminders. ;-))

More About the Noon Onyx Series

In Dark Light of Day, the first book in the series, Nouiomo “Noon” Onyx, a 21 year old post grad magic user, had to choose between death or training to become a demon peacekeeper. In Fiery Edge of Steel, Noon faces a different question.

The Noon Onyx series is a genre-bending fantasy series. The setting is post-apocalyptic, but it’s not dystopian fiction. In fact, Armageddon is old news. Demons have inherited the earth, but goodness and love still exist. In short, the series is for readers who adore adventure, passion, mystery, and magic.

I’ll be posting info and links to various other events in connection with Fiery Edge of Steel‘s release. And I’ll be posting more guest blogs from the fabulous authors who are participating in the Spring Into Summer Romance guest blog series. Behind the scenes, I am working feverishly (sometimes literally — dang spring colds!) on book #3.

I had a lot of fun writing Fiery Edge of Steel and I hope you enjoy reading it! Have a great week, everyone!

Quick post to let everyone know I’m over at the Reader Girls today (a book review blog run by two teen sisters and their mom). I discuss the wise woman archetype and the noble women healers from Dark Light of Day, the Mederies. In the comments, I also touch on a subject I’ll be blogging about later this week, the emerging “New Adult” genre. Also want to let you know (since I have another guest blogger here tomorrow) that Monday, October 1st, I’ll be at Urban Fantasy Investigations discussing Dark Light of Day’s Angel Spellcasters. More chances to win signed copies of Dark Light of Day, an Ace/Roc SF/F sampler, and eGift Cards. Hope to see you there!

I have not met Angelique Armae in person but she comes across as utterly charming in her e-mails. I asked her to share something unique about herself or her characters and she said:

I’ve studied angelology and have done angel card readings for people. I’d love to read the cards for my Valentine brothers. As the Bad Boys of Hell, I can only imagine what the cards would reveal for these sexy, angelic dudes. :)

Angelique is here today to tell us about her latest release, SHADOWS OF THE SOUL, which is Book 1 of the Paradisian Chronicles. She’s giving away two magnets to one lucky commenter.

Leave a comment to enter to win these magnets. (There’s no doubt that Nicolai looks pretty darn good on the cover of Shadows of the Soul, but I love The Bride Wore Demon Dust one!)

The Angels and Demons from the Paradisian Chronicles by Angelique Armae

Angels can be found in many religions across the globe. They come in many forms – including those with white fluffy wings and those with swords of fire and dark wings. In fiction they are great characters to write about. You can give them good virtues and bad virtues, make them fierce battle-mongers or quiet guardians. I love writing angels.

In my book SHADOWS OF THE SOUL, my hero Nicolai Valentine, is half-human, half-angel. His father is a fallen angel who has since repented. This gives my hero his strong connection to the human world as well as his blood ties to both Heaven and Hell. Creating a diverse character such as Nicolai gave me tons of writing pleasure. He’s good, he’s sexy, he’s righteous and he still has human flaws. He’s one of my most favorite characters of all time.

Other angels and demons in the book and/or upcoming sequels include the Valentine brothers, the Archangels Raphael, Gabriel and Michael, and Lucifer, Hadean and Dreadacus. Here are some Paradisian facts based on my series on these fascinating beings:

Nicolai Valentine – The oldest Valentine brother. He runs eNVee Laboratories, the clinic that caters to preternatural creatures living on earth, including other half-human, half-angel beings.

Max Valentine – The quieter of the Valentine brothers. Max deals with all the legal issues concerning the family and their laboratory. He’s skilled in Paradisian Law, including the laws of Hell.

Raphael – a healing angel, one of the Seven Archangels. In Shadows of the Soul I’ve portrayed him close to his common angelic traits. He’s a physician in the angelic world, but still a fierce warrior.

Michael – top general of the angelic army, one of the Seven Archangels. In my series, The Paradisian Chronicles (Shadows of the Soul is Book One), Michael is the head honcho when it comes to the Paradisian warriors.

Lucifer – Hell’s ring leader. You can’t get much worse than this guy. He’s a neat freak, loves beautiful music and is the most tortured soul to exist. Picking on his half-human bloodline is what he does for fun.

Hadean – a really ruthless demon. He’s both a living, breathing entity as well as one of Hell’s most potent supernatural viruses. He attacks fallen angels and their half-human kin by ripping their souls from their bodies, leaving them to roam in a ghost-like state.

Dreadacus – a Hell-bread spawn capable of stealing human memories. He carries a memory sphere that he uses to trap mortal thoughts.

More About Shadows of the Soul

When Hell’s sexiest bad boy–Nicolai Valentine–defied Lucifer, he lost everything.

Isabel Godfroie Heart is a Paradisian Scholar-an immortal human trained in the ways of Heaven and Hell-who’s suffering from memory loss. During her last battle, a dark force erased specific portions of her past life memories. Now she remembers little of times past, save for the fact she’s a demon slayer mentored by the archangel Gabriel. When ordered to a new post to help translate a volume of ancient text from a forbidden verse, Isabel is forced to work with the dark prince Nicolai Valentine, a soul who may or may not be responsible for her memory loss. If only she didn’t find the tempting creature so hard to resist…

Born to a fallen angel and a mortal mother, Nicolai Valentine is a prince of the Grigorcov, the children of the fallen sons of God. Searching for the lost chalice that will save his kin from eternal damnation, Nicky unknowingly unleashes the Hadean Virus, a dark entity targeting members of the Grigorcov. Now the entity has been unleashed on man’s world and Nicky’s in a race against time to find the antidote that will stop this deadly parasite. But in order to keep the Hadean virus from attacking again, Nicolai must enlist the help of Isabel Godfroie Heart, the Paradisian Scholar he was unable to save from the wrath of Hell centuries ago…

Shadows of the Soul is available here:

More About Angelique Armae

Angelique Armae is a native New Yorker who’s as zany as the city she grew up in. As a child her favorite toy was Emerald The Witch, a small doll with green eyes, green hair and purple skin.

Ms. Armae’s books and novellas have garnered numerous awards and nominations, including the Sapphire Award, P.E.A.R.L. Award and Word Weaving Award. Her books have also been featured on Midwest Book Review’s Book Watch TV. Angelique’s first novel, COME THE NIGHT, made Fictionwise’s Best of the Best list, rounding out the top five best-selling dark fantasy books of the year. Her latest title, SHADOWS OF THE SOUL is a Kindle best-seller.

Aside from writing, Angelique also dabbles in digital art. She is the recipient and two-time nominee of the Dream Realm Award for best cover art.

When not working, Ms. Armae enjoys traveling, learning about the ancient Celts, exploring history and learning new languages. Angelique studied history and French literature at Skidmore College.

Let us know which angel or demon character from Angelique’s list you would most like to meet — or not — and why for a chance to win the magnets! (US only due to mailing costs). Don’t forget to stop by The Qwillery too if you have time. I’m being interviewed over there today.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and to Angelique for guest blogging today! Best wishes for a wonderful weekend!

My publisher has generously sponsored a Goodreads giveaway for Dark Light of Day. If you are interested in entering to win one of the 25 copies Ace is giving away on Goodreads, please click here. Hope everyone’s having a great week!

“There is a fresh new voice in urban fantasy, and she has a unique take on Armageddon: The war is over and the demons won.”– RT Book Reviews (4 star review)

Fine Print

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Nothing on this site is intended to be legal advice. If you need legal advice, please find an attorney. Dick the Butcher was wrong when he said, "Kill all the lawyers." They really are there to help you.

The opinions of guest bloggers and commenters are their own. I encourage thought provoking posts and differing opinions, especially when handled in a professional, reasoned, and (best of all) entertaining way. The world would be boring if everyone had the same opinion on everything.